Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to mean a fancy night on the town, especially during the pandemic. In fact, there are all sorts of ways you can celebrate with loved ones at home or closer to home. Here are a few of our ideas for you to use as inspiration. As always, bolded items are available at your favorite Bartell’s!
General
1. Make handwritten Valentine’s and mail them to loved ones, especially those you haven’t seen in a while. In a digital age, We love receiving physical letters and card.
2. Drop off an “I ❤️ you” basket of wine, chocolates or other Valentine’s (or Galentine’s!) favorites on a friend’s front doorstep. Make it local with 14 Hands and Seattle Chocolate!
3. Skip the family zoom call for Valentine’s Day, and have some fun doing a virtual escape room instead. Escape a Mayan Jungle? A 1920s robbery? A post-apocalyptic zombie attack? Online options abound!
4. Game Night! Play video games or a classic board game paired with a wine tasting on the side. Bartell’s carries a great variety of board games, card games, and puzzles. Stop by and browse!
5. Make a bubble bath with all the works – candles, bubbles, wine, chocolate – the whole shebang!
Kids & Family
1. Drop off a stuffed animal at your niece/nephew/grandkids’ house. That way they can get hugs from loved ones even if they can’t do that in person. Bartell’s has a cute selection of bears, dogs, unicorns, uni-kitties and more!
2. Bake cookies. Eat them yourself, drop them off at friends and neighbors, or pack them up nicely and mail them to loved ones. Put all of the dry ingredients of your favorite recipe into a mason jar, or cute container so that your valentine can bake them fresh themselves. Check out some of these tasty cookie ideas! https://foodal.com/recipes/desserts/cookie-decorating-tips-valentines-day/
https://www.wilton.com/color-block-hearts/
3. Give your significant other some ‘them’ time – take the kids out of the house for a couple of hours and let them hang at home.
4. Make a fun Valentine’s themed craft! Fill those tiny jam jars you have been saving with your favorite Valentine’s Day bagged candy, tape or glue together paper hearts to form a cup, place on top of the candy-filled jar, and finish this cute craft with a bite-size chocolate bar.
6. Have a full-blown Valentine’s Day scavenger hunt. Pick up some supplies from Bartell’s like candy, small toys and stuffed animials, LEGO, as well as Pokemon and other trading cards. Hide prizes around the house, create a treasure map, or series of clues and let them loose!
Couples
1. Screen free quality time. Go for a stroll through the Washington Park Arboretum, walk along Alki Beach, or head to Golden Gardens and watch the sunset. Even a rainy day walk can be fun with the right partner.
2. Clean the house or other outstanding around-the-house to-dos for your significant other!
3. Breakfast in bed. Coffee, orange juice, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream? There’s a reason this is still a go-to classic.
4. Cook dinner and bake a dessert together.
5. Order in! Order from your favorite restaurant or a restaurant you’ve never tried before but always wanted to and make a date night of it. Pair it with a bottle of wine, and voila!